Of Tombstones and Cracked Walls?
by ArdentSinner
Summary: Iruka gets depressed on a lonesome day off, a certain yellow haired gaki comes to mind. Kakashixiruka, IrukaNaruto A songfic.


Author's Note: The normal disclaimer applies here. I do not own Kakashi, Iruka, or any other Naruto characters as well as anything Naruto related. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei. And the song used in this fic was done by Boyzone entitled 'Picture of You'. Thisficwas created for entertainment (and satisfying self need for furthercharacter involvement) purposes only.Erm, this is a trial one-piece and well, I'll update later. Jya na!

**Of Tombstones and Cracks on Walls by ArdentSinner**

It was late Friday evening and he had no class or work to do. So he decided to stay in and catch up on his rest. Iruka Umino sighed as stared at the ceiling of his modest room. He was looking at the very cracks and texture of it as the setting sun's rays danced in streaks across the white-gray surface. The silence prodded him to contemplate his life over. He hated these days. It tended to make him depressed and so lonely.

His mind wondered to Team 7. Naruto's face kept popping up in his mind. How the boy's cheeky eyes would have this special glint when he is up to mischief and how he would blush when he talks about Haruno Sakura or when he thinks of Sasuke when he thinks no one is watching. So young with such a burden to bear.

**Didn't they say that I would make a mistake**

**Didn't they say you were going to be trouble.**

Iruka memorized what the other villages said about Naruto. How the whole town hated him just for something he did not know he did. He remembered how they shunned Naruto's existence in the village. Granted what he did was beyond repair…but in truth, it was never Naruto's fault. He knew that, the 3rd Hokage knew that, the villagers knew that.

And yet, against all expectations, Iruka took him in anyway. Iruka took Naruto under his wings. Iruka remembered well what the people said about his actions.

He remembered how troublesome the boy was before. Daily he would make people scream his name just so they don't forget him, even if his name was bowled out with profanities. It didn't bother him. He painted the Hokages' faces, he played the villagers and led them on a merry chase.

**People told me you were too much to take**

**I couldn't see it**

**I didn't wanna know.**

How much, Iruka wondered, the boy reminded him of the idiotic mask he wore when he was younger, just to hide his loneliness. He used to paint the villagers' houses with paint so bright, they hurt or honey so bees would swamp them- just to get their attention. He used to act stupid and do unintelligent things so that rather than look at him with sympathy, they'll laugh at him instead. That was why Iruka was able to accept him so openly.

Iruka sighed. He sat up and allowed his eyes to rake across his silently empty room. So hollow. So silent. He could imagine that was how Naruto's life was because his was like that as well. Before he accepted Naruto in his life.

The changes were drastic and sudden, but no one could deny that it was for the better. For a while, Naruto continued his actions; running wildly across the village wreaking havoc. Kami help him, how he wanted to strangle or smack the boy! He didn't, though. And how glad he was that he didn't.

**I let you in and you let me down**

**You messed me up and you turned my life around**

Hokage mentioned that it was a transition period for the boy. It was a delicate time for Naruto. Iruka had to let him have his way for the time being. Just long enough for Naruto to adapt to the changes. Iruka understood that. And the opportunity came soon enough.

Mizuki-sensei had detected the villagers' dislike for the young boy. He thought he could manipulate the boy's naiveté to get the scrolls. Honest to Kami, Iruka was disappointed in Naruto when he heard about it but not a single bone in him believed that Naruto would do such a thing. He was too innocent and naïve to have done such a thing.

**You left me feeling I had nowhere to go**

**I was alone**

**How was I to know that**

All Iruka knew was that he needed to get to Naruto first before anyone else does, for the boy's sake. His instincts knew where the boy would be. Iruka chuckled softly at the memory. What a mess his emotions were when he spotted the boy covered in dust and grime. He was proud and angry and glad and sorry and so much more, all at the same time.

"Mou, Iruka-sennnseeeiii…" a voice drawled, drawing him out of his reverie. Kakashi.

Turning around, Iruka came eye to eye with the silver-haired jounin, Hatake Kakashi sitting on his window with one of his feet propped on the sill and the other dangling inside.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei. I do wish you'd come in through my door instead of my window like that," Iruka said, slightly startled.

"…thinking about Naruto again?" Kakashi said, eye turned up with a mischievous glint.

"A-aa…" Iruka replied, blushing furiously thinking how the Jounin knew him so well.

"What about?" he said pulling a chair out of Iruka's desk to settle himself comfortably with the chair's back in front.

"…W-when he stole the scroll," Iruka mumbled quietly. Scraping of the chair against the wooden surface of Iruka's floor made him look up only to see Kakashi pulling himself closer.

Kakashi -as if detecting Iruka's unasked question- said, "All the better to hear you, Iruka-kun."

Kami-sama, the man was distracting. But at least he won't have to bear the silence alone for the next few minutes.

**You'd be there**

**When I needed somebody.**

**You'd be there**

**The only one who could help me**

"Naruto is one hell of a boy na, Iruka?"

"Aa, how he changed my life. Our lives. I'll hear no end to this if he hears of this, but I think he'll make a great Hokage when he earns the title."

To that, Kakashi laughed out loud. Iruka was sure that not many could have seen him laugh like that. Indeed Kakashi reminds him a lot of Naruto, too. Iruka noticed that he had already pushed his hitai ite down to his neck, revealing his amazing eyes.

"Indeed he's one in a million. Although he is currently still my worst student, he's already proven he has the ingenuity to be just that…someday," Kakashi said laughingly.

Iruka smiled along. Indeed Naruto was special. He continued, his voice carrying a timbre of somberness, "How wrong my perception of him was, Kakashi…It took me 10 years to realize that. All the while I was so hateful, so angry, so…vengeful, so…"

**I had a picture of you in my mind**

**Never knew it could be so wrong.**

**Why'd it take me so long just to find**

**The friend that was there all along**

"Lonely," Kakashi offered understandingly. "That's all you were, Iruka. Lonely. So was Sasuke, so was Naruto. So was I."

A tear rolled down Iruka's cheek without him noticing. He had a sad smile on his face. "Ironic, really. He became what I needed after…after the incident."

Kakashi reached out and brushed his knuckles against Iruka's cheek, "Your sun after a long stretch of darkness?"

Iruka laughed at Kakashi's lighthearted jest and slightly embarrassed at his show of emotions, "Yes, my bright and orange sun! And don't say it sounds cheesy. You started it."

"What amazes me, Iruka is how you never refer to him as the Kyuubi. Never once," said the elder man when the laughter receded.

"I…It never occur to me to think of him that way. To me, he was just another naughty kid who needs a good spanking," Iruka said, his mood lightening drastically.

"Indeed! But you love him, na?"

"Aa, I do. He's like a broken part of me, mended."

"Tell me something, Naruto told me that when Mizuki attacked you, you were just about ready to face the blade. Was it true?"

**Who'd believe that after all we've been through**

**I'd be able to put my trust in you**

**Goes to show you can forgive and forget**

**Looking back**

**I have no regrets 'cos**

"H-Hai, I was prepared to die, Kakashi."

"You had the skills, Iruka why let others think otherwise? Why end your life?"

"Because I had no reason to show them my prowess. I wanted to die. I wanted to stop being lonely and maybe finally join my parents. I had nothing to live for anymore."

"But Naruto saved your life when you wanted to it to end. You trusted Naruto with you life?" It wasn't a statement. It was a fact.

"Heh, yeah, after all that."

"No regrets?"

"No regrets. After all, if he didn't decide to save me, I wouldn't have been able to meet you," Iruka blushed slightly at his confession.

**You'd be there**

**When I needed somebody.**

**You'd be there**

**The only one who could help me**

"No, you would be another honorable name in Konoha's history and another tombstone in the cemetery, but that would've meant nothing to me. Iruka, you being alive makes all the difference, na?" Kakashi said softly as he moved out of his seat on the chair to sit next to Iruka's lying form.

"I don't have that much power to influence people's lives, Kakashi," Iruka replied, eying the dancing shadow on his ceiling.

"Yes, you do, Iruka. You changed Naruto's malevolent emotions towards the humanity, his pain and sadness into trust and hope for the future, you changed their perception of him and you changed my perspective towards life. You may claim to be powerless and weak, but you are anything but. Do you understand?" Kakashi's vehemence made Iruka turn to face him. And what he saw nearly made him weep.

Kakashi had an angry look in his eyes, one blazing red and the other bright blue. But underneath all that outwardly simmering anger was an overwhelming underlying of smoldering faith, love and affection.

"A-aa. I do," Iruka, whispered huskily, his voice hoarse from fighting back the tears, "Arigatou, Kakashi."

Kakashi leaned over Iruka's lying form before moving to straddle the younger shinobi, yet he kept an arm's length away from Iruka's face, "Iie. Thank **_you_**!"

As a slightly broken but soft laugh escaped Iruka's lips, silent tears fell freely. Kakashi pulled down his facemask and smiled freely at Iruka. Iruka wondered briefly how many people were lucky enough to see this side of one of Konoha's best protectors. Without another word, Kakashi swooped down and kissed Iruka's tears away then he kissed Iruka's eyelids.

Iruka chortled a bit when Kakashi kissed his nose; silver hair prickled his forehead and right ear. Taking his opportunity, Kakashi dropped a kiss on Iruka's laughing mouth. Iruka gasped at the sudden kiss and Kakashi took that opening to slip his way into Iruka's sweet cavern.

It started of just an appealing kiss from Kakashi. But Iruka was so grateful for the intrusion of his loneliness; he felt the overwhelming gladness to be saved. He felt like a shipwrecked person with a lifesaver thrown to him. He felt saved.

**Owari?**


End file.
